What is link building?
- Will Tombs
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Contents
Link building is the process of earning hyperlinks from other websites to your own. These links act as “authority signals”, which tell search engines and AI systems that your brand is credible, trusted, and worth surfacing.
The image below shows how link building works. A high-authority website (Page B) links to your website (Page A), passing an “authority signal.” That backlink acts like a vote of confidence. When you create strong content and do effective outreach, you earn these links. As a result, your website gains authority and becomes more visible across search engines and AI-driven platforms.
Types of link building
Digital PR for high-authority mentions
This involves getting your brand featured in well-known publications and websites. When respected sites talk about you and link to your content, it boosts your credibility and helps you appear more often in both Google search and AI-powered results.
Local link building for location-specific visibility
Local links come from nearby businesses, community groups, and local news outlets. They help search engines understand where you operate and make it easier for local customers to find you.
Foundational authority building links
Foundational authority links are the first backlinks created when launching or rebranding a website. They help search engines recognise your business as real and trustworthy.
These links usually come from business directories, social media profiles, and relevant forums like Reddit or Quora. Most point to the homepage and use your brand name. Together, they create a strong base for future SEO link-building.
Broken link building
This method finds outdated or broken links on other websites and offers your content as a replacement. It’s a simple value exchange: you help fix their page, and you gain a quality link in return.
Skyscraper link building
This approach looks at popular content in your industry, creates a stronger and more useful version, and shares it with the websites linking to the original content. It helps position your brand as the smarter, more up-to-date choice.
What is a quality backlink and how does it help with SEO & GEO?
A quality backlink is a link from a trusted, relevant, and authoritative website pointing to your own. It acts as a public endorsement, signalling to search engines and AI systems that your brand is credible and worth recommending.
In SEO, quality backlinks help you rank higher because they strengthen your website’s authority. In GEO, they continue to have a huge influence on how often your brand is mentioned, recognised, and included in generative results. This makes link building a core part of modern authority building.
editorial.link surveyed 500+ SEO professionals, primarily across Europe, the UK, and the US, and 73.2% of them said that they believe backlinks affect the chance of appearing in AI search results like ChatGPT. The majority of them commented that high-quality backlinks improve a website’s authority and its overall organic search ranking.
White hat vs black hat backlinks
White hat backlinks are earned naturally through valuable content, genuine relationships, and legitimate outreach. They follow search engine guidelines and build long-term authority and trust for your brand.
Black hat backlinks, on the other hand, come from manipulative tactics like buying links, using spam networks, or automating placements. These shortcuts may produce quick gains, but they risk penalties, loss of visibility, and long-term damage to your reputation.
For modern SEO and GEO, white hat link building is the only sustainable approach because it strengthens your brand’s authority in the long term.
A comparison table
Aspect | White hat backlinks | Black hat backlinks |
How they’re earned | Earned naturally when people link to helpful or useful content. | Created using tricks like buying links or spammy websites. |
Rules | Follow search engine rules. | Break search engine rules. |
Effect on website trust | Builds strong trust and authority over time. | May give a quick boost, but often harms trust later. |
Risk level | Low risk and safe for long-term growth. | High risk and may lead to penalties or removal from search. |
Best used for | Long-term SEO and building a trusted brand. | Short-term tricks (not recommended). |
Internal vs external linking
Internal links connect pages within your own website, helping visitors and search engines navigate your content more easily.
External links come from other websites pointing to yours, helping strengthen your credibility.
Internal and external links both support your overall link-building strategy, but they play different roles. Internal links strengthen your own website by guiding users and search engines through your content, enabling important pages to gain authority.
External links, on the contrary, come from other websites and act as powerful endorsements that build your brand’s overall authority.
Together, they create a strong, connected structure that’s essential to organic search ranking.
How important is link building in organic search?
Link building is one of the three core pillars of organic search, alongside strong content and solid technical foundations. Search engines rely on backlinks as signals of authority, trust, and relevance.
When reputable websites link to you, they essentially vouch for your expertise. This authority helps your pages rank higher and stay competitive.
Without meaningful backlinks, even great content struggles to reach its full organic potential.
How important is link building in SEO?
In SEO, link building remains one of the strongest ranking factors because it validates your content in the eyes of search engines. High-quality backlinks act as proof that your brand is credible and worth ranking above others.
As competition grows, brands with stronger authority profiles outperform those relying solely on content.
How important is link building in GEO?
In GEO, authority determines whether your brand is surfaced, cited, or ignored.
Backlinks from authoritative publications increase your chances of being included in training datasets, which LLMs like ChatGPT use for generating answers.
How to perform link building | 7 actionable steps
Step 1 - Identify high-quality, relevant sites
Start by finding trustworthy websites in your industry that your audience already relies on.
Step 2 - Create linkable assets worth sharing
Produce useful content, including guides, data, and case studies, that other sites genuinely want to reference.
Step 3 - Build a targeted outreach list
Identify the right editors, journalists, and website owners to contact.
Step 4 - Craft personalised outreach emails
Send short, tailored messages that explain why your content adds value.
Step 5 - Secure links from trusted publications
Aim for mentions on respected sites to build strong authority signals.
Step 6 - Monitor backlinks and track coverage
Regularly check which links you gain or lose.
Step 7 - Maintain consistency and momentum
Link building works best with steady, ongoing effort.
Get started with link building today!
Link building is no longer optional; it is essential for standing out in both traditional SEO and the fast-growing world of GEO and AI-driven search.
If you’re ready to strengthen your authority and improve your visibility, the team at Buried can help. Get in touch with us today to get started!
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